Do not starve the children of nature

Daily News & Analysis, Mumbai – October 24, 2007
By Leonie Maistre

Kids today are being deprived of all that the environment has to offer. Their natural curiosity takes a backseat as the society, steeped in commercialism and media, is dictating their dreams, experiences and wishes. They have lesser opportunities to explore nature in today's world where speed and greed are the order of the day, says Leonie Maistre

MUMBAI: We went on a trip to the nature park recently. The children from my class were very excited to be there, loved being there; but they could of got more from it if they'd been quieter and this quietness has to start from home.

It seems obvious that children need nature but it is fast becoming evident that children, who are the treasure of any society and its future, are being starved of it and all that nature has to offer.

Richard Louv, a leading researcher on child development says; there is an "increasing alienation between children and nature" which will have "profound implications because it is a critical part of child development".

Today our children's senses are being bombarded, literally attacked by images, sounds, emotions that are estranged to their natural and gentle development. This rude awakening and over-exposure of the senses exhausts children and can lead to lethargy, poor concentration or bad behaviour. This is a direct result of children being 'spoon-fed' their experiences, their dreams, their wishes by a society steeped in 'commercialism and a media where speed and greed rules'. Everything is fast and noisy, bright and intense. It is 'given on a plate' thus leaving no space for ones own imagination, let alone for nature; for trees, for animals, for calm, for silence.

Malls are a product of this hyper-sensed world as they epitomise everything that a growing child does not need and should not need. Did you know that in America (the creator of malls) they have stopped building them because research now proves them as magnets for anti-social behaviour?

One American professor of environmental studies was quoted as saying "No society that loved its children would create places like the typical suburb or shopping mall" because they result in an "increasingly dysfunctional society absorbed with all things related to economics, growth and the self". Malls are seriously not good for children thus they are not beneficial for the future of our society. Yet in Bombay they are popping up like worms after a light rain fall on a beautiful green field. If only the birds would come and squeeze the malls out of this city like the worms!

Malls must be the environment most far removed from the natural environment yet children seem to be spending a lot of time in them. And there are other options which can be easy such as the beach, a walk round the block (Bombay is lucky to have so many trees in the city so let the children observe them), sitting at the window watching the birds. We at Steiner Schools talk about/bring nature to the class everyday but it's not enough; children need it at home also, with
their families.

Nature is the 'window into wonder'. Louv says "nature is not just a quaint form of leisure, seconding to TV and computer games" and "exposure to ordinary natural settings may effectively reduce attention-deficit symptoms in children". We could say here that exposure to nature is a therapy then. A therapy for learning and behaviour difficulties. I couldn't think of a better therapy!

The sense of wonder that nature brings will open children up and teach them to explore their surroundings and 'get their hands dirty'. The environment professor also said "No society that loved its children would divorce them so completely from contact with soils, forests, streams, wildlife". And something especially for India and countries supposedly 'shining' in the economic world; "the well being of children in the fullest sense of the word, not gross national product, is the best indicator of the health of our civilisation".

Please let your child just be quiet. Believe it or not, they can. And make that special effort to leave the city on any given opportunity; expose your children to the beauties of nature away from the city.

Top Stories